Security bar (aka stick) with servo to raise and lower it like a drawbridge?
Sliding Glass Door Electric Lock
- Thread starter childetx
- Start date
Security bar (aka stick) with servo to raise and lower it like a drawbridge?
These are all excellent considerations and I appreciate the discussion. I do not know what my door will be made of, but I am sure it will be either metal or vinyl, which may rule out my idea of an electromagnetic lock. The alternative is an electric deadbolt up above the door. But it sounds like I would need to make it serviceable for when the lock fails. This would be fine because I could still control it from my OmniPro. I was sold on the maglock for a while, but now the deadbolt sounds like the best option.
You could also consider a deadbolt rising -up- through the floor in the track where the door opens, or mounted in a similar location aimed down. Similar to a foot operated lock.
There are also some electric strikes that are designed to work with a "hook bolt", which might work with the standard latch on a patio door.
I'm surprised this isn't available commercially.
-jbn
apostolakisl
Senior Member
Do not drill a hole through the bottom of the door frame. This is a for sure water leak issue.
A solonoid that shoots a pin into a hole in the top of the frame would work well. It could be designed such that it lives in a mortise cut iinto the top of the frame and thus would be removable, much like a mortised lockset slides out the side of a door. As far as I know, you would have to design a build it from scratch since I have never seen one sold. It would work with the same concept as the little foot activated pins they sell for sliding glass doors. You could also potentially modify one of the foot activated guys to be powered, but that would look kind of ugly.
Sometimes the best solution is to let it go. There isn't always a perfect solution for every problem, there are always drawbacks and issues. It's better the know the drawbacks and issues so you can make the decision to not do it. Especially when life safety is involved.
Until the door exists and you know the construction, run a couple of wires to "key" locations and coil them up. All other suggestions have too many variables until the door is actually known...
There are some good ideas here, though.
Here is a suggestion: Abandon the sliding door all together for a french door, now you're back in business.
HAI_fjh
Active Member
There are many commercial options for less than $100. There are the drop bolt types to mount in the frame above the door, in fail safe and fail secure varieties, with or without manual/mechanical override. There are of course mag locks specifically designed for sliding glass doors and there are electric door strikes again specifically designed for the hook type latches of sliding glass doors. Which one you choose depends on you specific door type or perhaps you can select the door based on the type of lock you desire. In any event planning ahead can save a lot of grief.
I Googled "electric lock for sliding glass door" and the first link in the list was to a company that had several relevant products...
IMHO this would be simpler and safer than reinventing the wheel.
As a side note, my home had a sliding glass door to the patio, but when I remodeled after Katrina I converted it to French doors, but putting an electric lock on French doors is just as problematic. You can't really use mag locks because French doos open inwards, and strikes are a problem too because the strike is in the other door not the frame. They do make strikes for this but they cost more and making it look good enough for the wife is another problem.
Again planning will save headaches. Get the entire solution before you begin so you don't end up with a dispute between 2 separate sub contractors.
I Googled "electric lock for sliding glass door" and the first link in the list was to a company that had several relevant products...
IMHO this would be simpler and safer than reinventing the wheel.
As a side note, my home had a sliding glass door to the patio, but when I remodeled after Katrina I converted it to French doors, but putting an electric lock on French doors is just as problematic. You can't really use mag locks because French doos open inwards, and strikes are a problem too because the strike is in the other door not the frame. They do make strikes for this but they cost more and making it look good enough for the wife is another problem.
Again planning will save headaches. Get the entire solution before you begin so you don't end up with a dispute between 2 separate sub contractors.
A french door strike isn't that tough, we do it all the time, electrified hinge and strike or electrified handleset. The hardest part is having a long enough drill bit and template for drilling the wiring channel so you don't pop through, assuming the door is wood.
They make plenty of things for cabinets including VonDuprin type devices, but the big issue is to either have something with enough sheer strength to secure the door, which leaves out the majority of the common pin/plunger types. We've fit "cabinet" units plenty of times in the healthcare side of the security business. They work OK, but not a real security item.
I hate to say it, but unless your door is going to be custom fabricated to support the hardware and installation, you might be opening up a can of worms in modification that will cause more headaches than a neat and slick solution as you're envisioning.
Run some wire, but I don't see an easy silver bullet to make it work without a lot of custom fabbing or a custom door unit.
They make plenty of things for cabinets including VonDuprin type devices, but the big issue is to either have something with enough sheer strength to secure the door, which leaves out the majority of the common pin/plunger types. We've fit "cabinet" units plenty of times in the healthcare side of the security business. They work OK, but not a real security item.
I hate to say it, but unless your door is going to be custom fabricated to support the hardware and installation, you might be opening up a can of worms in modification that will cause more headaches than a neat and slick solution as you're envisioning.
Run some wire, but I don't see an easy silver bullet to make it work without a lot of custom fabbing or a custom door unit.
programmergeek
Active Member
To me Yes $25 a year in power that is climbing in cost is alot but then I have all LED lights and am pretty green. Remember the pull ope rating on the locks is that a pull apart so the lock would have to stick out, sliding agenst a magnet is alot easer.
For Emergency Egress I would put a lit up switch next to it that says press to open that should take care of that. I don't know what the local code inspector will want though. You could look into grocey store type doors I remember I did at one point for a customer and they had some stuff that didn't look to bad was very expensive though. It migh pay just to buy the whole door done rather than try to retrofit something.
Euphline you also need to take voltage into your formula. 18w at 12v is not the same as 18w at 120v. I don't know the impact don't care to figure it out right now you might have the time.
For Emergency Egress I would put a lit up switch next to it that says press to open that should take care of that. I don't know what the local code inspector will want though. You could look into grocey store type doors I remember I did at one point for a customer and they had some stuff that didn't look to bad was very expensive though. It migh pay just to buy the whole door done rather than try to retrofit something.
Euphline you also need to take voltage into your formula. 18w at 12v is not the same as 18w at 120v. I don't know the impact don't care to figure it out right now you might have the time.
Steve
Senior Member
Nothing is going to be perfect and as mentioned before a favorite way into sliders is a brick. A glass break detector inside would be the best defense for that. If you are just building, regardless if you are in a hurricane zone you may want to just consider impact sliders if you are concerned about security. Nothing is going through the glass except a chain saw and since the locks are heavier duty and clamp from both top and bottom there will be no lifting the door off the track either. It's a one time investment easy to do while building the house and you don't have to worry about power, hooking to the alarm, etc. Just another perspective...
I do live in hurricane country and I got tired of spending 18 hours putting up the shutters I had so I replaced all my glass windows and sliding doors with impact. I had wired screens before on the windows and just contacts on the doors. Now I have absolutely nothing but contacts on my entry/exit doors. Of course I still have my glass breaks/PIRs if someone decides to get adventurous with a chain saw but I no longer have any worrys about bricks. I was always concerned about the master bedroom slider. A brick through it in the middle of the night would not give me any time to react, now there is alot more peace of mind. They are not perfect but they are a great compliment to security regardless of your location.
I do live in hurricane country and I got tired of spending 18 hours putting up the shutters I had so I replaced all my glass windows and sliding doors with impact. I had wired screens before on the windows and just contacts on the doors. Now I have absolutely nothing but contacts on my entry/exit doors. Of course I still have my glass breaks/PIRs if someone decides to get adventurous with a chain saw but I no longer have any worrys about bricks. I was always concerned about the master bedroom slider. A brick through it in the middle of the night would not give me any time to react, now there is alot more peace of mind. They are not perfect but they are a great compliment to security regardless of your location.
Most AHJ's want "no special knowledge" and " one motion egress"
A button Might work but I wouldn't do it personally.
They also usually want something that is stand-alone and physically removes/interrupts power and latches that way, not an input to any sort of controller (failure point).
AlexCuster
Member
Rosslare makes some pretty nice looking egress buttons.
My favorite is their piezo EX-16. It's slick looking with configurable the ring light (red/green/off) based on status. They haven't updated the picture on their website but it does say exit below the button in the same font as their EX-17.
These REX switches do directly interrupt power to the deadbolt/maglock.
My favorite is their piezo EX-16. It's slick looking with configurable the ring light (red/green/off) based on status. They haven't updated the picture on their website but it does say exit below the button in the same font as their EX-17.
These REX switches do directly interrupt power to the deadbolt/maglock.
I can't speak for others, but one of my major AHJ's would not allow something like that, must be a mechanical, preferably pneumatic latching style mushroom or similar type switch, only physical moving parts, nothing "circuit" related. The one "site" we're always at has thousands of access control doors and points spread across multiple buildings/properties.
parkavenuelocks
New Member
Hey, you can check the Cal-Royal electric deadbolts. It is touchscreen and easy to install on doors.
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